The chapter opens with a knock at the door. It's Natsuo, who's just returned from a trip to the woods. He's glad to see her, because she's been hiding out near her school. He tells her that he's happy to hear that she and Akihito are back together. He also tells her about how Amaterasu is hanging out in the woods, painting himself into something. He says he'd like to do some bonding with her, but he doesn't want to be a "stick in the mud" like he was when they first met. He asks her if she'd come with him, and she says she would. He then tells her how he used to hide as a "yakuza lieutenant" . She's probably just trying to get him to come with her to a bath house. He adds that she probably made an "ex ception" for him, which is a reference to a sexual relationship between a man and a woman . He wonders if the bath house is actually a brothel, or if it's some kind of "plumbing house" , and wonders if they're going to let him in with the "old plumb ing." He then asks if she came to fish for guys, and if she did. She says she did, and he asks if he could go home now, like a "one of the gods." He says life is full of surprises, and that he never thought he would end up disowning his family. When he told his father that he was leaving the family, his father was "boiling mad" at him. He told him that he could do whatever he wanted to do and associate with whomever he wanted. He even thought of having his tattoo removed, which was six years later. He remembers thinking about how his father must have